Toxicity
by MissF.A.T
Summary: Following the lives of some Special Infected who must find a way to survive as humans become less and less common.
1. Chapter 1

So Hunter Pups are copyrighted to perpetualfrustration of Deviantart. Anything Left 4 Dead related is copyrighted to Valve.

Two men stood in the opening of an alleyway. One pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit one up and took a long draw.

"Where the fuck do you keep getting those things?" asked the other man.

"There's still tons left in gas stations and stuff," replied the first man.

"So you risk our lives just to get a pack of cancer sticks?"

"Hey, I _deserve_ a smoke after killing this bitch," said the first man, kicking a nearby corpse. Three dead bodies lay in the alleyway, all Hunters.

Both men tensed as they heard an angry snarl. They looked around, noticing movement in the nearby woods. They shrunk back, readying their weapons.

Suddenly, two terrifying screams ripped through the night air. Two Hunters leaped from the roof of the apartment building, slamming into the two men. The male Hunter was quick and efficient, tearing open the throat of the second man. The female Hunter wasn't as merciful; she ripped and tore at every inch of flesh she could reach. She continued to maul the man after he was dead, until the male hunter pushed her away.

"Kodi, he's dead. Enough," he said. She snarled, showing extremely sharp teeth dripping with bright red blood.

"They fucking killed them."

"Turning them into mincemeat isn't going to bring them back," said the male Hunter. The female growled furiously, but said nothing. She laid next to the corpse of the female Hunter. She had been killed with a single gunshot to the back of the head. Kodi reached out and placed a clawed hand over her dead friend's and wished, not for the first time, that she could cry. The male Hunter leaned against the brick wall, looking out toward the woods.

There was a rustling sound, causing Kodi to lift her head. The noises came again, a little louder, and they were followed by a small growl.

"Dagger, you heard that, too, right?" asked Kodi. The male Hunter nodded, and Kodi rose to a crouching position. Suddenly, a small figure tumbled from a nearby pile of cardboard boxes. It was crouching as well, and playfully growling. "TAD!"

The Hunter Pup turned to look, watching Kodi as she climbed to her feet. He gave a happy growl and took a few small leaps toward her, stopping at her feet. He was small, the top of his head coming to her knees. He looked up at her and reached toward her. Kodi quickly picked him up, hugging him to her.

"They didn't get Tad?" said Dagger, shocked.

"He must have hid. I can't believe it!" said Kodi, nuzzling Tad with her face. Dagger paused, sniffing the air.

"We should move. I can smell a Tank."

Kodi crouched to the ground and put the back of Tad's hoodie in her mouth. Tad hung limply but content from her jaws, already use to this mode of transportation. Kodi leaped forward, using the opposing wall as a springboard. She landed on the rooftop of the apartment complex and crawled near the edge facing the street, before sitting cross-legged and putting Tad in her lap. Dagger followed closely and stood silently next to her.

After a moment, Tad began to sniff Kodi's bloodstained hoodie. He began to chew on it, whining as he did so. Kodi looked up at Dagger.

"Would you mind?" she asked. Dagger disappeared. Seconds later, a sickening ripping noise filled the air. Dagger returned and handed a chunk of flesh to Tad, who began to eat it. Dagger crouched down, perched on the ledge. He scanned the streets below him, looking for any dangers.

Suddenly, there was a loud roar. A Tank came thundering into view, causing the ground to vibrate. He let out another infuriated roar and began to take out his anger on the Commons below. Dagger shrunk back away from the ledge, hoping not to attract the Tank's attention. Kodi did not move, though she did greatly tense up.

It was close to an hour before the Tank finally left. Kodi allowed herself to relax. Dagger perched on the ledge once more, surveying the streets. Most of the damage had been done to the buildings and cars. The Commons had had enough sense to flee, but a few of them had still fallen to the Tank. Tad had finished eating, and was now playing with the strings on Kodi's hoodie.

"What are we going to do with him?" asked Dagger, turning his head to look over his shoulder at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's not our pup."

"So? I thought Ollie was your best friend?" demanded Kodi.

"He was!"

"Look, Dicey was my best friend. Even if we could find another Huntress to take him in, I wouldn't let him out of my sight."

"I understand, Kodi. But it's harder to find food for ourselves now, let alone a pup. You know they eat like crazy."

"So what, are you suggesting we kill him out of _mercy_ or something?" Kodi bared her teeth.

"No, no, that's not what I meant!"

"Well, _whatever_ you meant, I'm keeping Tad as my own. And if you have a problem with it, you can leave."

"I'm sorry, Kodi. It's not that. It's just confusing. Some of my best friends are dead, and now we have the responsibility of caring for their pup." Kodi growled softly to show that she still didn't like what he had to say, but she said nothing herself.

Tad gave a loud yawn and began to curl up in Kodi's lap. She prodded him gently to keep him from going to sleep, and he growled.

"We need to find a new place to sleep."

"There's an abandoned apartment complex close to where Zane lives. I think Val stays there in the day so mostly everyone avoids it," said Dagger.

"All right." Kodi climbed into a crouching position and once more took the back of Tad's hoodie in her mouth. Tad growled quietly, but made no more of a fuss.

Dagger and Kodi jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Their means of moving around were swift; they made it to the other side of the city in minutes. They got into the building by climbing through a broken window.

Kodi took Tad in her arms once more, where he began to doze off. They found a rather large room with a bedroom that still had an intact mattress. Kodi laid down on her side with Tad curled up by her stomach. Dagger laid next to her, putting an arm around her.

Dagger and Tad fell asleep quickly. Kodi lay awake for a while, her stomach angrily growling. She hadn't been hungry after finding her friends, but now she was feeling it. Dagger was right, this was going to be difficult. Most of the survivors had moved on from this town, and lately they had barely been able to find enough food for themselves. But she reached out and pulled Tad closer to her body and closed her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Dagger awoke to a tugging sensation on his hoodie. He raised his head and found Tad tugging on his hoodie with his teeth, playfully growling. He scanned the room but found no sign of Kodi. However, the window was open, the tattered curtains wafting lazily in the breeze.

Dagger took the back of Tad's hoodie in his mouth and hoisted himself into the window. He scaeld the side of the building with ease, emerging onto the rooftop. He found kodi perched on the ledge, absently staring out at the city.

Kodi looked back at him and then climbed off of the ledge. She sat down and took Tad from dagger, sitting him in her lap.

"You okay?" asked Dagger.

"I've just been thinking." She said no more. Instead, she nuzzled Tad with her face, who made a noise resembling a purr. "We should go back and see if there's anything left for Tad to eat."

"The bodies have probably been picked clean by the Commons, but it can't hurt to check," replied Dagger. Tad growled playfully and squirmed a little as Kodi prpared to carry him. The two traveled swiftly, their powerful leaps carrying them across rooftops and off of walls.

They landed on the rooftop on the apartment complex they had once lived in and peered over the ledge, down into the alleyway. A handful of Commons loitered in the alley, eyes the remains, but not touching them. Kodi sat Tad down next to Dagger. She then leaped down, snarling angrily.

The Commons hesitated. They knew that any of the Special Infected could easily destroy them. However, food was becoming so scarce that they considered fighting her. Dagger jumped down next to Kodi, Tad hanging from his jaws. The Commons immediately ran off, knowing they stood no chance against a pair of Hunters.

Dagger set Tad down on the ground. Tad hurried over to the corpses of the humans and began to pick at them, though there was little left. Kodi laid down next to her friend's dead body once more. None of the Hunters' bodies had been touched. Dagger leaped back up to the rooftop to keep an eye out for any dangers.

Kodi watched Tad pick at the bodies. There would be enough for only him. No matter how sick she felt being around the bodies of her dead friends, her stomach was still violently hungry. She ignored her hunger pains the best she could, instead trying to focus on Tad.

After he had finished eating, Tad began to play with one of the bones. He would chew on it for a while. Then he would decide to throw it into the air, leaping up to catch it in his mouth. After a few minutes, Dagger jumped down again and crouched next to Kodi.

"We need to move to another town," said Kodi.

"What are you talking about?" asked Dagger.

"We need to find another city. Almost all of our pack is gone. We have a pup to take care of now. I don't think there's a single human left here," explained Kodi.

"Humans travel through the cities looking for new places to stay. I think you just want to leave because of our friends' deaths. We can't be irrational."

"Dagger, staying here is irrational. There's no food here. Even if the humans do wander through, think about it; there'd be like, what, three? With all of the other Specials and Commons, how likely is it that we'll get anything? Even if we do, face it, we'll probably see humans once every few weeks, if we're lucky. Maybe we could live like that, but I _know_ Tad couldn't."

"Okay, so, say we did. Where would we go? None of us remember our way around. It's starting to get cold. As you said, perhaps we could live that way for a while, but Tad couldn't," said Dagger. Kodi bared her teeth at him.

"I'm going to talk to Val," she said. She picked up Tad with her mouth and took off. She arrived at the other apartment complex minutes later. She could hear the sound of heaving crying echoing up from the stairwells leading to the basement. She took Tad in her arms and peered down into the darkness.

"Val? It's me, Kodi. I'm coming down, okay?" She descended the stairs carefully, her eyes adjusting to the light. It was incredibly dark in the basement; but Kodi was a Huntress, a predator. Once she had adjusted, she could see quite well in the blackness. She found her friend sitting in a corner, her legs folded neatly to the side. Valory was a Witch. She was rather short, but also heavily muscled. Her hair was the usual platinum blond, but incredibly long.

"Hey, Kodi," said Val. Her voice was higher-pitched and raspy. "Is that Tad?"

"Yep." Kodi sat down on the concrete floor and let Tad go. He crouched down and peered curiously at Val, sniffing the air.

"Why do you have him?" asked Val. She watched in amusement as Tad slowly approached her. He moved at a crouch and emitted a quiet growl. Kodi winced. She hesitated, not wanting to admit that it was true.

"Dicey is dead. So are Ollie and Lawson."

"Holy shit... How?" Kodi hesitated again.

"Dagger and I went out to hunt. Dicey and Ollie were so preoccupied with Tad. Lawson was suppose to stay for extra protection... only it didn't work out like that." Kodi paused. Tad now seemed to have warmed up to val. He was now playfully batting at her long hair. "They got Dicey from behind – they had to have. They shot her in the back of the head... Ollie and Lawson fought, that was obvious. When we returned, the humans were already injured."

"You didn't let them go, did you?" demanded Val.

"Of course not. I mutilated that asshole. Of course, you kow how Dagger is. He's too nice," Kodi added bitterly. Val slowly shook her head, causing Tad to playfully jump after her hair. "But that's why I'm here."

"Oh? Why?"

"We need to leave the city," said Kodi. Val stared at her, considering her. "There's no food left for anyone anymore. There are no more survivors in the area, and none come through. If we don't move on, we're going to starve."

"I agree with you, Kodi, it's not what it use to be. But where do we go? I don't think any of us remembers where any other cities are."

"I don't know, Val, but we need to leave, _bad._ I've got Tad to think about. And, well, I really need to eat more." Kodi shifted uncomfortably. Tad now climbed into Kodi's lap and began to nap.

"You know we _all_ need to eat," said Val, sounding slightly annoyed.

"No, that's not what I meant. I have a reason – I mean, even if there was enough food for all of us, I would still need to eat more." Val's eyes widened.

"You mean...? But, does Dagger know?" asked Val.

"No, and you can't tell him. It would only cause him to freak out."

"I don't think it's right to keep it from him. It's a big deal."

"I know. But I have another six months... That's plenty of time. We will have found a new city by then and things will be better."

"I do want to come with you, though."

"Good, because I wasn't going to give you a choice," teased Kodi.

"But what about Zane? Have you talked to him?" asked Val.

"No. You should invite him yourself," said Kodi, grinning. Val shook her head.

"Oh no, I could never do that. Have Dagger talk to him, would you?" Kodi shook her head.

"You're ridiculous... I need to go find Dagger. But I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Sure."


End file.
